


Old Friends

by Tay_Quin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Gay, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, M/M, Slow Build, Slytherin, forgiven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tay_Quin/pseuds/Tay_Quin
Summary: Draco’s childhood best friend turns out to be a muggleborn and he is forced to give up contact with her. After six years of going to the same school and loathing one another, Tess starts to notice something brewing between Draco and Harry.
Relationships: Ginny Weasley/Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Kudos: 15





	1. Tess: When New Things Begin, Old Ones End

**Author's Note:**

> Uh so hey guys. I did a thing.  
> 🥺👉👈

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tess POV

“So wait,” I asked, “What are the four houses again?” Two months had passed since I had done my first bit of magic. I had fallen from the money bars and torn my pants at the knee. But when I’d touched the tear, it had vanished, just like that. And Draco had seen it. Ever since, he’d been telling me all about witches and wizards, wands, magic, the full works. Today, huddled under a pine tree by the edge of the park, we were discussing the magical school.

Draco raised his brows, “Didn’t your parents tell you about Hogwarts?”

“Er, no, I suppose not.” I confessed.

“Well they are magical, aren’t they?” It seemed to be very important to him that they were.

So I lied. “Yes. They just, wanted it to be a surprise, for when I got there.”

“Oh, well I’m glad my parents didn’t keep it from me, I like knowing.”

“Me too.”

“Okay, so, the four houses are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Each of them has its own house colors, animals and values.”

On and on he went, until I thought, should I have been given a test on Hogwarts, I would have aced it.

Draco and I had been friends for as long as I could remember. Even so, I still remembered the precise occasion in which our paths had first crossed. We were both five at the time, two years prior to now, fighting over who should have the highest swing in the park. It was this very same park, in fact, I could see the swing from my place in the dirt. The way I told it, I was the victor... but he tended to disagree.

***

“Only four months to go and I’ll have my letter!” I announced as we hid, high in the branches of our pine tree. 

He grinned at me, “How could I forget? But I’ll get mine the day before you.”

“Yeah, yeah, no need to remind me.” I said, grinning right back.

“We’d better be in the same house.” He said. It was about the thousandth time he’d said that very sentence.

“I still don’t see the issue if we do end up in separate houses. I mean really, we’ll still be able to see each other all the time.” I said.

“Yeah but we won’t share a common room, won’t eat at the same table, won’t have all of the same classes.” He reminded me.

I sighed. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

***

When a stout woman showed up at my house on my eleventh birthday, dressed rather peculiarly, I knew the time had come.

She introduced herself to my mum and dad as Pomona Sprout, a professor at Hogwarts. Of course, by parents were slow to grip the truth of the situation before us, but I readily aided in her telling of Hogwarts, something that apparently took her by great surprise. My little brothers and sister were full of energetic questions that kept Pomona at my house for the better part of the day. Not that I was complaining, I was glad to finally be truly accepted into the wizarding world.

As soon as Pomona was gone, I ran to the park, to our pine tree, to wait for Draco. Only, he didn’t turn up. I waited an hour. Two. Four. Five. The sun had gone down, I was alone here.

And then he emerged, as though he had materialized from the darkness itself. His hair was long and that same silvery blond as Draco’s. He wore a mask that concealed his face and long dark robes that billowed out around him. In his hand, I caught sight of his wand. I took a step back, then another. He matched my movements, but his strides were larger and he drew ever nearer. And then the pine tree was blocking me, cornering me, leaving me with no escape.

“You will stay away from my son, you filthy little mudblood. You will not speak to him, you will not so much as look at him. Do you understand?” He hissed, malice laced his every word.

Terrified and faced with a fully grown wizard, I nodded. 

There was a loud crack and he was gone.

***

I went to the pine tree every day for the rest of the summer, hoping Draco would show, but he never did. 

One day, in late August, I found myself wandering to his house, only to find a new family living there. He truly was gone.

***

My parents drove me to King’s Cross Station. My little sister, Katie and my brothers, Luke, Jack and Henry had all decided to come too. Quickly, I hugged them goodbye and promised to write every week.

I searched for Draco, to no avail.

I did, however, see him once the sorting ceremony began and he was sorted into Slytherin. He joined them eagerly, a hint of smugness evident on his face.

And then the elderly witch who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall was calling out, “Daniels, Tess!” Draco’s head snapped in my direct and our eyes met for the briefest of moments, before he sneered and turned away. 

I sat on the little wooden stool and waited patiently as the sorting hat weighed each of the options.

“Gryffindor!”

We weren’t even in the same house. I sighed and stood on legs that had somehow managed to grow stiff in the mere minutes I had sat there. Almost robotically, I made my way to the Gryffindor table. I found myself sitting beside a bushy haired first year who told me her name was Hermione.

And thus, my friendship with Draco came to a close.

Over the years to follow we shared nothing but passing glances and vaguely offensive words. 

I told myself I had moved on, that I didn’t miss having him as a friend, but I don’t think a single cell in my body bought the lie. 

There was no denying it; I longed to have my friend back.


	2. Tess: A Death Eater Walks Among Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tess POV

I may have loathed Snape, but there was no denying that he was a better teacher than Slughorn ever could be. Harry had been successful with every single potion while the rest of us were failing miserably. I didn’t understand it, I mean I had followed the book exactly each time, all with no luck.

“Harry?” I asked as I attempted to get my potion to turn from a sunset orange to the desired lime green. 

“Yeah?” He returned, squinting down at his own book. 

“You never told us what you and Dumbledore were doing the whole time you were holed up in his office last night.”

“Oh right, well we just looked at some old memories from Riddle’s past and heritage. And there was this one memory that belonged to Slughorn, but he’d messed with it. Dumbledore wants me to get the real memory. It’s got something to do with the horcruxes, Slughorn told Riddle something about them, and we need to figure out what that something is.” Harry explained as his potion turned to the exact shade depicted in the book. I groaned and peered over at his book, though I wanted to do the potion on my own, I needed a few successes here and there to keep my grade up.

“So what are you going to do?” Asked Hermione and I saw that her potion was just as orange as mine was. 

I sprinkled some crushed shrim roots into my potion and began to stir counterclockwise as Harry said, “I reckon I’ll just ask him for it.”

“Harry,” I said thoughtfully, “If he’s gone through all the trouble of altering a memory, he isn’t likely to just come out and tell you. Use the Felix Felicis you won, you won’t even need to use it all, just a couple of hours worth.”

But Harry merely shook his head, “I don’t want to waste it, what if he just tells me straight out, then I’ll still have the potion.”

I sighed but said nothing. Hermione on the other hand, still had plenty on her mind, “Harry, Dumbledore made this out to be very important. Which means that your top priority should be getting that memory!”

“Yeah, mate,” Ron piped in, “What do you even want to use it for anyway?”

Harry didn’t answer, but he gave himself away by glancing to the other side of the room, to where Malfoy sat. 

“Oh come on, mate, give it a rest.” Ron groaned, “Even if he is a death eater, no one believes you.”

“That’s why I need to get proof. If I have proof then they’ll believe me for sure.” Harry insisted.

I had a hunch that that wasn’t the real reason Harry’s eyes had wandered to Malfoy. When we had been studying Amortentia, the love potion, I had asked Harry what it smelled like to him. He had described it as smelling like lemon, bergamot and amber wood, which just happened to be exactly what Malfoy smelled like. 

And I hadn’t missed the longing glances Harry often shot in Malfoy’s direction. 

And I would have been blind if I hadn’t seen the glances Malfoy returned when Harry wasn’t looking. 

And I wouldn’t wouldn’t have been a very good friend, if when we were younger, I hadn’t realized that Malfoy definitely swung in that direction.

As the year continued on, things began to escalate with Harry. Now, without a doubt in his mind, he believed Malfoy was a death eater... and I was inclined to agree. Malfoy was neglecting his homework, always on edge, skipping out on classes, and he even appeared to be sick. But Harry was completely losing it, following Malfoy around, he had even missed a Quidditch match... and he was our captain! I had been forced to play seeker, a position I had never tried before, and we had lost, horribly. 

One day, I found myself alone in the corridor when Malfoy rounded a corner, his head down. He was walking straight towards me, clearly distracted by his own thoughts. And I didn’t move out of the way, I let him bump into me. “Sorry,” I muttered and then looked up, pretending to only notice who he was for the first time. “Oh.” I sneered, “It’s you.”

He glared back at me, but it was half hearted at best. I knew my efforts weren’t up to their usual bravado either, there was no one around to act in front of. And in spite of everything, I couldn’t hate him. 

Even so, I couldn’t let him hurt me. “Having fun with your death eater pals?”

He blanched a little and then hissed, “What’s it to you?”

“Oh nothing, I just think the Headmaster would be interested to know what you’re up to.” What the hell was I saying? I had no clue what he was up to, I was being foolish, prodding at him like this. 

Malfoy only smirked, “I’m sure he would be.” He began to walk away, over his shoulder he called out, “Let me know if you ever figure it out and feel like sharing.”

I stood there, frozen in place, utterly bewildered and mildly exasperated. What was he playing at here?

I reached Transfiguration and sat down with Hermione, Ron and Harry. Once we started in on the practical part of the lesson, I leaned in close and whispered, “I think you’re right, Malfoy’s a death eater for sure.”

Harry’s face did something that was either an absence of emotion or far too many emotions at once, either way, it was unreadable. “So you believe me then?”

“Yeah, well I ran into him in the corridor and confronted him about it and he basically confirmed it. And then he laughed at me for not knowing what he was up to.” I said shortly. 

Hermione looked at me skeptically for a moment before shrugging. “Well I guess that’s enough for me.”

“Wait,” Ron said, his face contorted in confusion, “You were alone in the corridor with Malfoy and you confronted him and he didn’t hex you?”

I shook my head, “Ron, when has he ever hexed me?”

Ron seemed to ponder this for a long while before he said, “Oh, I guess he hasn’t really ever hexed you, has he?” 

I shook my head. And it was true, while he had fought Harry and Ron on countless occasions and even attacked Hermione a couple of times, never once had he sent a spell at me. And I had never known what to make of it.

“Maybe he likes you,” Ron said slowly. 

I scoffed, “Ron, I can assure you, he does not.”

Ron shrugged, “You never know.”

But I was certain, I did know.


	3. Tess: Everyone Loses in a War

The four of us had taken to moving in shifts to follow Malfoy, it was the easiest way to figure out what he was up to, however the end of the school year was approaching fast and all we had managed to figure out was that he was using the Room of Requirement for whatever he was trying to do and that whilst he was inside, we were unable to enter.

I was in Muggle Studies when Professor McGonagall came in. Luke was by her side and there was such fear in his face and such sadness in hers that my hands shook as I waited for her to speak.

“Tess Daniels, please come with me.” I stood and gathered my things, every part of me had gone stiff, it was hard to make even the smallest movement. What had happened?

McGonagall had long, quick strides and it was difficult for Luke and I to keep up. “Professor Sprout is collecting Kate, Henry and Jack as we speak.”

“Professor?” I asked, “What’s happened?”

She looked at me with those sad eyes and suddenly I didn’t want to know. “I’ll explain everything once we get there.”

“Where are we going?” Luke tried.

“The Headmaster’s office.”

No further words passed between us. As we walked, I busied myself with tugging at the ends of my curly hair to see how long it would become when pulled straight. I was so entranced by this small repeated action that I failed to notice when we reached gargoyle statue that blocked off the Headmaster’s office. I also failed to hear the password McGonagall uttered that made the gargoyle leap aside.

I did, however, notice when we had made it in the stairs to find that Molly and Arthur were standing there, waiting for us with Dumbledore. Mere moments later, Professor Sprout came in with Kate, Jack and Henry trailing behind her. Worry shown in the lines of their faces too.

When we were all there and staring expectantly at Dumbledore, he spoke, “I am very sorry to have to inform you of this, but Voldemort sent death eaters to your home last night and your parents were murdered.”

Murdered. Such as far off, distant word. A word to be seen in the headlines of newspapers and in mystery novels. But not in real life, not so close at hand. At least not until Voldemort had returned to the realm of the living. Returned with his plans and ideas and followers and cruelty. With his prejudices.

Cedric Diggory.

Sirius Black.

My parents, My kind, wonderful, brilliant parents. Dead.

“Who did it?” I hissed.

“Tess...” Molly said gently, as her hand came to rub my shoulder.

“Who fucking did it?!” I shouted. Luke and Henry were crying and I myself was close to tears.

“Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.” Dumbledore said.

I let out a huff of air and said, “Of course it was him. I’ll be seventeen on the sixth, we’ve got money, I can take care of them.” I gestured to my sister and brothers. We had no other family left, I was the eldest, I had to take charge, be the adult now.

“That won’t be necessary.” McGonagall said. “Molly and Arthur here have offered to take you in.”

“All of us?” I asked, shocked. They already had seven children, to ask them to care for five more seemed like too much.

“Yes, all of you.” Arthur said, stepping in. “Bill, Charlie, Percy and the twins have all moved out, so we have the room.”

Before I knew it, I was hugging Molly and Arthur. “Thank you, thank you so much.” I whispered, it was so muffled that I doubted they’d heard it.

I gathered my composure and headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape was likely to reprimand me for being fifteen minutes late to class and sure enough, the moment I entered he pounced.

“Where have you been?” He snapped. “Did you suddenly lose your sense of direction or perhaps you simply lost track of the time?”

“Actually, I was with the Headmaster.” I snapped back, in no mood to play. “You see, his father and auntie,” I pointed an accusatory finger at Malfoy, “have just gone and murdered my parents. If you’ve got a problem with that, take it up with him.” Without another word, I stalked across the room and took my seat.

After a few minutes I could feel eyes on me, of course all eyes had been on me and very periodically glancing back up, but one pair in particular had remained there this entire time. I turned around in my chair and met those gray eyes. I saw no malice within them, but that didn’t stop me from mouthing, “You’re dead.”

Malfoy didn’t look away for a long moment. When he finally did, the sadness I felt had been entirely eclipsed by fury raging deep within me.

After the class had ended, I was slow to leave the room. Inside, I was safe from Hermione’s pity, Ron’s disbelief, Harry’s understanding. The second I left, it would all come crashing down. They tried to wait for me, but I waved them on. Hermione looked like she was going to protest, but Harry pulled her away and reluctantly Ron followed. Once I was sure they were gone I packed my things and left the room. The corridor was deserted or so it seemed.

A hand touched my shoulder lightly, but after the news I had received, I was on edge. I whipped around, and pulled my wand from my pocket as I went.

Only to find that standing there, was none other than Malfoy.

“Tess, I’m sorry, really, I had no idea they were going to do that.”

I surveyed him for a moment and then placed my wand back in my pocket, only to slam him back into the corridor wall. “What?” I snarled, “Think I won’t make good on my threat? Your dad took my parents from me, so I think taking his son and wife from him ought to suffice. Wouldn’t you agree?” My wand was out again, pointed at his throat.

His eyes were squeezed shut.

And suddenly he looked like that scared little boy again, the one who had come running to our favorite place after his father had started screaming at his mum. And I lowered my wand and backed off, disappearing down the corridor before his eyes had opened even a millimeter.


	4. Tess: Go On and Kill Me Then

Harry had gone off with Dumbledore to retrieve a horcrux and the castle had erupted into chaos. The dark mark hovered over the astronomy tower and death eaters had managed to make their way inside. Order members were here fighting, but they were outnumbered and help wasn’t going to arrive quickly enough.

Fenrir Greyback was here, and he’d gone after a student, who it was, I didn’t know, But there, on the other end of the fray, stood Malfoy, looking horrified. Then I saw who was by his side, Bellatrix. And without any thoughts of survival or my own wellbeing, I went after her.

There was a bang and a flash, and I’d lost her in a cloud of dust that threatened to rip all the air from my lungs. I could still see Malfoy though, ascending the stairs that led to the tower where someone was allegedly dead. I crept up quietly, though there was no need for it, the battle below was loud enough to wake the whole school.

Malfoy was standing there, still as a statue, his wand pointed at Dumbledore, who was unarmed and leaning heavily against the rail behind him.

“I have to do it, I have to kill you!” His voice was desperate, almost pleading.

I ran out from the stairwell and stood between them, facing Malfoy.

“Don’t.” He whispered.

“Don’t what? Don’t stand here? You’ve got to be a bit more specific, Malfoy!” I shouted, my voice rising with every word. And suddenly, all at once, it began to rain. Thunder boomed off in the distance.

“Get out of my way!” He screamed. “Or I’ll make you!”

I flung my arms out on either side, as though welcoming him, “Do it, Malfoy, go on and kill me then, just get it over with. Kill me, like your dad did mine.” Thunder crackled, somewhere high over the Forbidden Forest.

His wand hand wavered, “Tessie,” And damn me to hell, I hadn’t heard him say that nickname in slow long. All these memories came rushing back to me from a simpler time, a time when he had been my best friend. “Please, move.” I shook my head. “Tessie, come on, I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was so soft and the thunder was so loud, nearer now than before. He took a step closer to me.

“Then don’t.” I whispered, drawing nearer to him.

People were running up the stairs, death eaters were running up the stairs. Dumbledore was so weak. The wards protecting the castle were failing, crumbling down. “Tessie, you’ve got to go.” He pleaded.

“I can’t.”

More death eaters were arriving, screams echoed below.

Then several things happened all at once. Dumbledore sunk to the ground, Bellatrix appeared at the top of the stairs, Draco and I reached each other, wrapping one another in a hug. And I apparated us away just as lightning struck the tower. as we vanished, I saw a killing curse fly towards us and everything lit up as though it was suddenly midday.

The light was too bright and my eyes flew shut of their own accord. When I finally dragged them open, we were still hugging, drenched in rain and standing in the grass, beside a towering pine tree. Our pine tree. I hadn’t been thinking of a destination when I’d apparated, only of getting away, so of course we’d been brought here.

I took a step back from Draco, gave him a half smile and apparated back to the castle without him. He deserved to sit in the rain for a bit.

Now, we needed to get the younger students out, the ones who hadn’t learned enough yet to put up a fight or get away on their own.

I found Hermione, dueling a burly death eater, I made quick work of him with a well placed stunning spell. “Where’s Harry?” She called to me, over the thunder. Lightning struck again.

“No idea!” I shouted back. The end of the corridor caved in, trapping us on this side, away from all of the houses. “We’ve got to start apparating people out!”

“We can’t!” She said as she began to duel another death eater. “You can’t apparated in and out of Hogwarts, there are wards to protect it! Remember?”

“Milne, the wards are down!” She paled and cursed under her breath. The disarmed her death eater and together we began to blow apart the rubble of the collapsing ceiling, trying to figure a way past.

Finally, we managed to squeeze through, and there were Ron and Neville each dueling two death eaters, though admittedly less skilled ones. And just beyond them was Luna, fighting along side Ginny.

“We’ve got to get the younger ones out!” I called to the four of them. Luna and Ginny couldn’t apparate, but both Ron and Neville could manage it. And the sixth and seventh years could help. “Luna and Ginny go back to Ravenclaw and wake everyone who hasn’t already woken up, tell everyone who knows how to apparate, to start getting the first years out through side-along apparation. Get them Hogsmeade and then come right back and get more, first years first, then second, and so one. Neville and Ron, go to the Hufflepuffs, Hermione and Harry get the Gryffindors!”

“What about the Slytherins?” Asked Hermione over several loud explosions.

“Screw the Slytherins!” Ron grunted.

“I’ll get them.” I replied. Then I realized a flaw in my plan, Harry was still nowhere to be found. Oh well, I was sure Hermione could handle it on her own.

I raced down to the dungeons and found some of the Slytherins already outside of their common room. Quickly, I began to explain what was going on (or what little I knew of the situation, anyway) and instruct them on how to get out. Much to my eternal shock, they listened.


	5. Harry: It Always Ended Like This

Dumbledore had been so weak from that damned potion. He hadn’t stood a chance without Snape’s assistance. But there was no chance of getting to Snape, not now with all the death eaters here and the dark mark low over the castle. Someone was dead. And there was nothing either of us could do.

Together, the two of us flew up into the astronomy. Someone was coming and then I was frozen and the invisibility cloak was being flung over top of me. Draco charged into the tower and disarmed Dumbledore without a word. Apparently he had been paying attention in Snape’s lessons after all.

He had started all of this, he had brought the death eaters here, I was sure of it. But if that were true, then why did he look so incredibly frightened? Draco’s wand hand was shaking and his eyes were read and blotchy, as though he had been crying recently. I felt my heart lurch at the thought.

Draco looked as though he was trying to convince himself to do something, or rather, trying to force himself to do it. We didn’t have time for this, Dumbledore was dying and the castle was under attack. Who was dead? The thought rang over and over within my mind. Was it Hermione? Ron? Tess? Ginny?

But no, because suddenly Tess was there, standing between Draco and Dumbledore. And then she was talking to Draco as though she knew him and he was responding in kind. Nothing made any sense. The two moved closer and then embraced one another. A pang of jealousy shot through me, though I couldn’t figure which of the two I was jealous of. But before I could dwell on it, there was a pop and they were gone.

That wasn’t good, the wards protecting the castle had fallen.

Death eaters thundered up the stairs and peered around the tower. After six years of dawning my father’s cloak, I was used to eyes falling upon me and then looking straight through me, so that didn’t faze me. No, what fazed me was the glint that shone in their eyes as they landed on Dumbledore, whom had sunk down so low that I couldn’t be sure whether or not he was even alive.

“So weak... and pathetic,” A voice hissed. Voldemort. He was here, in the castle! No, in this very tower. He strode into the center of the room, his robes billowing out behind him, reminding me unnervingly of Snape. He bent low over Dumbledore, their faces mere inches apart.

“Good to see you, Tom,” Dumbledore rasped out and I saw it for what it was; a distraction. I saw it just as surely as I felt my muscles loosen up, Dumbledore wanted me to go, to escape. I knew he was right, I had a job to do, a job he was passing down to me. It was a job that needed to be completed, but my pride wouldn’t let me go, wouldn’t let me leave the dying man to his fate.

“Avada Kedavra!” And it was too late, I was too late. Dumbledore was dead.

Dumbledore was dead. Dead.

Dead.

Dead like my parents and Tess’s and Sirius and Cedric and others, so many others.

It always ended like this. With Voldemort winning, and someone dead at his feet. I had just never expected it to be Dumbledore. Dumbledore had always been so powerful, the only one Voldemort had ever feared. He had been hope. Dumbledore’s Army. The Order of the Phoenix. Hogwarts. What would we do without him?

A tiny voice whispered in the back of my mind; Carry on. Do what he would have wanted, destroy the horcruxes, then kill Voldemort.

And there was my answer, so as Voldemort instructed him death eaters to find me and bring me back alive, I crept from the tower, taking extreme care to avoid looking at Dumbledore’s crumpled body. Somehow, I made it back to the Gryffindor tower, where Hermione was pairing up the stranglers with older students. The last of them disappeared in a pop just as I pulled off the invisibility cloak and whispered, “Mione.”

She whirled around and barreled into my arms with a cried out, “Harry! Oh, Harry, I was so worried, I didn’t know if you’d been intercepted on your way back, or you were hurt somewhere!”

“Dumbledore’s dead.” I said, not taking in a single one of her words.

“I- what?” She gasped, “No, Harry, he can’t be.”

“He is.” I said and even to me, my voice sounded dead, empty.

She shook her head. I didn’t argue, sooner or later, she’d believe me.


	6. To Win, First Lose

Tess apparated a few feet to my left before I could say more. She was gasping for breath and her eyes were wide with fear. “Voldemort’s here.” She doubled over, gripping her stomach, “I’ve just seen him, he’s dueling Lupin and Kingsley.”

“Shit,” Hermione cursed.

“It isn’t looking good for either of them.” Tess said.

“We’ve got to do something,” Hermione fretted, worry coating her features.

Moments later, Ron and Neville apparated inside. “Hufflepuffs are all gone, into Hogsmeade, emergency train leaves in two minutes.”

Neville checked his watch, “Less than a minute now. Some of the Hogsmeade residents are working on putting up charms to keep anyone from apparating onboard.”

“Slytherins are all gone too.” Tess added.

Then Ginny and Luna were there. Ginny was coughing heavily and covered head to toe in what appeared to be a coal like black powder. She noticed me staring and seemed to be seeing it for the first time, I couldn’t be sure with all of the grime, but I thought she might have been blushing as she siphoned it off.

“The Ravenclaws all made it out,” Luna said cheerily, apparently oblivious to the severity of what was happening around them.

“Voldemort’s here.” Tess said, updating the rest of the group.

“Hang on,” I said, “Tess, where were-”

“We need to figure out a way to get out of here without condemning the castle to complete destruction.” Tess cut in. She looked at me as though to say, that was a conversation for later, at a time when we weren’t in mortal peril.

“Voldemort isn’t going to destroy the castle.” I said, “This was the first place he really felt at home, even if he doesn’t find me here, he wouldn’t ruin it.”

“Right then,” Ginny said, giving me an odd look. I knew what she was thinking, it was odd for me to know what Voldemort felt in any capacity.

“Did anyone else notice,” Neville began, “That it’s getting harder to apparate?”

“No, but that would make sense and it means that we’re low on time.” Hermione said, “We’ve got to go now. The wards are repairing themselves, once they’re back up completely, we won’t be able to apparate at all.”

“Okay,” Ron said, “Where are we going though?”

“Here,” Tess said, offering her hand, “Everyone apparate, I’ll guide us.”

I followed suit as everyone else grabbed some part of her. And then we were twisting through space, and it didn’t feel quite so easy, it was like we were trying to move through pudding rather than air. But in the end, we got there.

It felt wrong to abandon the castle, but I knew it was a necessary sacrifice.


End file.
